EFF STATEMENT ON CYRIL RAMAPHOSA CABINET RESHUFFLE
Friday, 06 August 2021
The EFF rejects Cyril Ramaphosa's Cabinet reshuffle. Ramaphosa's Cabinet reshuffle and so-called government department configuration prove the ruling party's bankruptcy of competency and sophistication to lead South Africa. The changes made in Cabinet have nothing to do with service delivery or efforts to revitalize the economy that continues to embody the apartheid economy. Instead, Ramaphosa's changes are intended to serve the ruling party's factional squabbles and reassure those in the CR faction that their jobs and patronage network are safe for him to win the next ruling party conference.
The EFF is mainly shocked by the appointment of Enoch Godogwana as the finance minister. While Godongwana will continue with austerities and neoliberal policy posture that holds South Africa's developmental objective ransom and serves capitalist interests, he has been preaching as chair of the ruling party's NEC economic transformation subcommittee. His appointment is proof beyond reasonable doubt that Ramaphosa's talk about fighting corruption was just rhetoric.
Godogwana left his position as deputy minister of economic development unceremoniously after he faced outrage for his involvement in a company alleged to have defrauded clothing factory workers millions of their pension money. To put him in charge of the country's purse with such serious allegations that were never resolved transparently amounts to placing a fox in charge of the hen house. Godogwana lacks credibility, capacity and understanding of systemic structural challenges that continue to face South Africa.
The SABC has dwindled into corporate capture under Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, tenure as Communications and Digital Technologies Minister. It has continued to air its content for free in pay-to-view entities, retrenched workers and side-lined indigenous languages which is a fundamental abandoning of its core mandate as a public broadcaster. The South African Post Office has collapsed and closed its offices, yet her failure has been rewarded, and she is now in charge of Small Business Development. How will Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams revive Small-Businesses which have been hard-hit by COVID-19, when she has collapsed Postal Services?
The retaining of Bheki Cele is another continuation of mediocrity. Cele is completely out of his depth and there should have been a complete overhaul of the Security cluster, considering his recent failure at handling the unrest in Gauteng and Kwa-Zulu Natal and perennial failure of protecting citizens and maintaining law and order.
Ramaphosa's Cabinet reshuffle demonstrates a lack of decisiveness, understanding of political leadership and governance. At the current rate, all ministries will end up as ministries in the presidency because the head of Cabinet is weak and suffers serious insecurities inside the political party he leads. Ramaphosa made empty promises about the reconfiguration of the State since 2019 and a smaller cabinet. There is no evidence of Cabinet reduction. Instead, he continues to increase the number of ministries, make questionable appointments, do an irrational restructuring of departments, and recycle old guards that are supposed to be on retirement.
The assuming of State Security into the Presidency is a stark indication that the state-agencies are going to be used to fight the factional battles of Ramaphosa including its slush fund, in the upcoming elective conference of the ruling party.
The shifting of State Security ministry and department to the Presidency is a despotic move, to centralize and thereafter steal State controlled intelligence and security resources for internal party political and factional battles, particularly in the period where party political funding is regulated.
We as the EFF will through parliament and all other measures possible make sure that the current factional establishment does not steal State security resources for internal party and factional purposes.
The EFF has called on Ramaphosa to do away with deputy ministers that have proved useless and cost taxpayer's unjustifiable expenditure. The continued insistence on deputy ministers when we are told that government has no money is yet another demonstration that the ruling party conference factional squabbles are more important than delivering water, sanitation, housing, and education to our people.
The EFF calls on all South Africans to be bold and decisive and go out in numbers to mobilize society to remove the ANC from power in all municipalities in the upcoming local government elections. Removing the ruling party from municipalities is the only way South Africa will prepare for a change of government in 2024 and bring in a much needed vibrant, courageous and decisive leadership that will lead South Africa towards total economic freedom.
Statement issued by the EFF, 6 August 2021
